"Puff Most Epic" Written and Edited by BeeAre and RuffDraftConcept, and Direction by BeeAre“Powerpuff Girls" Created by Craig McCracken

Chapter One – The City Of Townsville

Part One – A Storm Of Strength And Steel

[][][][][][] It was a slow, dark, dank day in the city. It was nearly silent except for the sound of rustling garbage in the alleys, the military aircraft in the distance, and the occasional mugging a couple streets over. This time of day on a Sunday, hardly anyone was in the city that didn't need to be. Crime being what it was in the city—especially now that the Girls were out of commission, Robin no longer felt safe staying too long. Her hurried gait carried her away from the grocery store, leading her along the sidewalk to her house. She slowed as she got close and followed the pathway up to her front door. She went inside, greeted her mother absently and trudged to her room. She dropped her backpack lazily to the floor and fell back onto her bed. She took a deep breath, trying to relax, staring up at the white ceiling, not even bothering to count the rough little bumps in her field of vision. She rolled her head back and pointed her eyes out the window, peering into the somber, overcast sky. Her eyes relaxed back to the ceiling with a sigh. Dark skies always made her sad. They made her remember that day, that horrible day, so long ago.

[][][][][][] How many years had it been since they met? She had met them in Kindergarten. They were going to be in high school now. She did the math. It had been eight, almost nine. She sighed bitterly at the thought. If only she were still here. For one, Robin would never had been this lonely. She and the girls used to play all the time. That had all changed very suddenly. The longer they spent apart, the further apart they grew.

[][][][][][] Now they just weren't the same. Robin had tried to hang out with them, but they were never in the mood. Either too angry or too sad. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't distract them long enough to make them forget.

[][][][][][] And somehow, it had gotten worse. No more trails of light in the sky. It was horrible. Even to her. Still, she loved them all. Losing your best friends didn't come close to what they'd been through, even if it still hurt.

[][][][][][] She sat up, staring at her feet, dangling with her calves over the edge of the bed. She rolled her ankles idly, staring at the pink-died leather of her shoes. She nudged off the left shoe with her right shoe, and then her right shoe with her left foot as they hit the floor one after another with a dull thud. She wiggled her toes and turned to stare out the window overlooking Townsville. If she looked hard enough, she could just barely make out the hospital where—

[][][][][][] Her eyes went wide and she ran to the window, pushing herself up on her toes to get a better look. That trail of light...!

[][][][][][] She gulped against her dry throat as she stared out her window at the city, looking for more flashes of light. This was either very good, or not.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][] * * *

[][][][][][] Mark snapped his gaze skyward, his breath still with dread. This city never saw darker days, he realized as he scanned the skyline with his eyes. The years had gone by and time had done its number on the once-fair city. Now, it swelled with chaos, boiled with anger, and flooded with evil. Half the city was destroyed, and what wasn't was filled with crime and debauchery.

[][][][][][] This city was broken. Of that, he was certain. It wasn't just the abandoned buildings, or the condemned ones... it was everything. The streets were cracked and uneven, some even looked like there had been an Earthquake, and Townsville didn't have any fault lines running through it. Some apartment complexes no longer even had running water. People in the street had figured out how to get the hydrants to begin spraying water, and at night, everyone crowded around them to fill up their bottles and jugs. All over the city, the city would spray water into the streets, the homeless would crowd around, and just as quickly, they would disperse, the now-shut hydrants freshly dripping.

[][][][][][] There weren't any police anymore—at least not here in the broken streets—but the military had set up a blockade at the far end of the city—the part that had been torn down in order to save the rest. Mark hadn't dared venture to take a look, but news spread fairly quickly, even in the underground. Within minutes of something happening, news would already be passed from one end of the city to the other, and if you were close enough, you could hear them talking. They always gathered in small groups, and then dispersed just as quickly after. Any of the other hobos that heard clearly enough would tell the rest of the group.

[][][][][][] If he listened real hard most of the time he was sure he could hear the sounds of the military shouting or drilling or whatever the Hell they were doing now. But even with them there, watching over the city, still no one was safe. All the times he listened in to conversations on the street, the voices he heard echoed his own thoughts. Between the Girls and the military, I'm not sure which is worse. All the fighting, the destruction... just staying alive had been a day-to-day struggle. Over the past few hours, Mark could have sworn he had heard sounds he hoped never to hear ever again. A quick pulse here, another several minutes later, each no more than a few seconds at a time. But the sounds were unmistakable. It was the flight of a Powerpuff Girl.

[][][][][][] And that was what made Mark feel so afraid right now. He had just heard it, no more than a second, and he watched the sky warily, listening for more, but the direction had been lost.

[][][][][][] Even now, he was sure he could hear someone talking about it in the streets behind him, and he strained to listen more closely.

[][][][][][] "...you hear? …is back ... seeking revenge..."

[][][][][][] "...not safe here... you ... tell the boss ..."

[][][][][][] He realized with a pang of misery that his fears were confirmed. He needed to move quickly. For the moment, he set the terrifying thought aside and tapped his wristwatch carefully, and held it to his ear. It was ticking. Was the time right? A little bit after five o'clock? He glanced up at the sky, this time gauging the relative light. It was really too cloudy to tell, but he was sure it was much later in the day. But the watch worked. And it looked gold-plated. Maybe he could sell it. But before that, he needed to find food. His family was starving, and so was he.

[][][][][][] He pulled the ratty coat tighter around him and stared out into the street. He turned his eyes around the corner, looking into the empty street, looking one way, and then the other. He started across, heading for the alley between Carl's Sporting Goods and Frank's Meat Market.

[][][][][][] There was a loud clanking sound, like someone had hit a baseball with a steel bat, and it had come from the park. He turned his eyes skyward, and his jaw dropped. A teenage brunette dressed in a green one-piece with a black horizontal stripe sailed across the sky, and the familiar piqued whine of energy and effervescent peridot trail of light followed in tune with her. Mark stared at her in horror and sprinted into the alleyway across the street, hidden from sight.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][] * * *

[][][][][][] Buttercup growled in her throat as she struggled against her pain. She finally rolled her shoulders forward, curling, rolling quickly towards her feet as she righted herself and shot back at the thing before her. It was gigantic, its eye glowing red, a spherical, polished metal body, and four large, smooth tree-trunk-thick tendrils that whipped around it with speed that didn't match its overwhelming size. When they did, it appeared to take on four more arms; it became a metal octopus, its deadly appendages making wide arcs in a blur. It lurched towards her, swinging at her with amazing speed.

[][][][][][] But she was faster...when she needed to be. She shot towards the robot, dodging its swings, spiraling in and latching on to its body, staring fiercely, glaring into its one eye. The force of her tackle brought it to the ground, and it seemed to be looking up at her as it pushed itself up to stand on all fours.

[][][][][][] "WHERE IS SHE?! GIVE HER BACK!!" She reared and swung, her fist glancing off the glassy eye, not even so much as marring its surface.

[][][][][][] In reply, the metallic thing simply swung its two hind legs up and knocked her simultaneously on both sides of her head. She clutched her temples in pain and it flipped backwards, batting her once more up into the air. The sound of bells and whistles in her ears and the way her temples throbbed made her eyes blur and vision shake. She might not have thought it was possible to see both at once, but she was in too much pain.

[][][][][][] She eventually blinked her eyes clear as she finally regained her balance, and rolled out of the way at the last second as the robot swung hard at empty air. It swung again and she blocked it with both arms, holding on to keep from being thrown back, and stopped its movement. She grit her teeth and threw the metal limb aside, and threw herself at the robot's body, and with a feeling of victory, she connected. The air around her punch rippled outwards and the robot was shot like a huge cannonball into a small row of building near the edge of the city. It crashed through the first building, glanced off the second, and rolling itself into the streets below. A few vagrants fled hastily in an attempt to get away from the destruction.

[][][][][][] In the time it took the thing to get to its feet, she had already hidden herself. She flew to the next street, and watched it from the alley, as it turned away from her, staring into the sky. It hadn't seen her. Now was the time to end it.

[][][][][][] She burst forth from her hiding spot, and swung hard, but this time, she missed as it pulled back with just an inch of empty space between her fist and its hull. She turned and was greeted by a solid uppercut, sending her rolling once more into the air.

[][][][][][] She reeled from the pain, and as her ascent began to slow, opened her eyes.

[][][][][][] She watched it get closer to her, and watched it start to spin in midair, its legs moving as fast as a helicopter as it shot past her and stopped right in her path.

[][][][][][] Move, dammit, she shouted at her body, but she couldn't put forth the energy. She flexed her muscles and clenched her teeth harder, feeling it come back little by little.

[][][][][][] It was charging, and she knew that attack. It had used it once before. Her eyes wide, she finally burst sideways, just out of the beam of molten plasma that missed her by nearly an inch. She darted under the wave, flying along an empty street of ruined buildings, instinctively avoiding contact with the fire. She knew the damage it would do to her and was desperate to get away.

[][][][][][] The robot fell though the plasma that still lingered in the air unharmed, and landed in the street right in front of her. She realized too late what it was doing, as it landed with three of its legs, the fourth aimed right at her. Without warning, from the extended leg, it fired a steel ball attached to a great wire. The plasma had her trapped where she was, and she thought she had no other option. She took the brunt of the attack, and caught the steel ball in her arms.

[][][][][][] She didn't realize the mistake before she had made it; as soon as it was in her arms, she was bathed in a terrible, blinding light.

[][][][][][] It seemed to her as if it were coming in slow-motion, as if time had nearly stopped as the scarlet light enveloped her. She could feel the intense heat of the blast, even as it crept over her, and with it came an intense pain. For a moment, she couldn't move. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out, and her eyes went wide, then shut tight as the pain was too much for her. The air that was trapped in her lungs came out then, as a roar, an agonized scream, and she couldn't think of anything else. The pain erased all other sensations, even thought, as it tore through her mind. And then, following the pain, came the only other sensation that she associated with pain:

[][][][][][] Rage.

[][][][][][] Her eyes ripped open, and she saw her enemy before her. In that instant, with the robot still on the attack, she tore upwards, striking the ball away, which threw the machine off-balance and stopped its discharge even as it readied another strike. The pain stopped, and she could clearly see her target as it retracted the sphere to its leg and came back down on her. Her anger, still blazing, burned hotter than the plasma still lingering on her skin, and her body gave off an emerald hue as she surged forward, hellbent on destruction.

[][][][][][] She dodged its swing and kicked it into the air, like she were punting a football. Flying after it, it flailed wildly, but none of its attacks connected. She wove around them, and hit it again, climbing higher as it was launched further into the sky.

[][][][][][] Danger levels were rising, and the robot plotted its next move.

[][][][][][] It spun forward in a wide arc, trying to spike her like a volleyball, but in that instant, its movements stopped. Buttercup was holding on to its leg, and kept it there for a brief moment before letting it drop. It seemed to hover in midair for an instant before falling, and she moved on top of it before it could even think.

[][][][][][] It saw her, and searched futilely for an escape. It recognized that the danger was too great, and by that time, it had already lost.

[][][][][][] Buttercup delivered a flurry of punches as if she were a living jackhammer. She darted to the other side, repeating her attack, and again at another angle, changing its momentum in different directions on instinct several times before she raised her leg over her head and brought it down directly on its body. And as it plummeted, she raced with it, her fists flying.

[][][][][][] Shockwave after shockwave tore into the air around her as the robot's metal frame cracked, fractured, and shattered, leaving a trail of shrapnel around her as the burning rage took control of her body and ripped her enemy to shreds.

[][][][][][] Again she reared. She felt it give. Her fist embedded in the robot's eye. The feeling of slow-motion returned, and she watched herself shatter it like a beautiful crimson firework. The red glass glittered in the air as the rest of the robot plummeted to the ground like a twisted meteor. She landed a moment later, only feet away, breathing hard, staring at the oversized broken toy with fading anger.

[][][][][][] All was silent except for the occasional sound of sparking electrical circuits.

[][][][][][] Buttercup stood over the decimated scraps of the robot. What was once smooth tendrils of carbon-steel now resembled baked calamari. It was twisted and scraped all over, and mud had caked on in the fight through the park, tarnishing its surface.

[][][][][][] As she stood, the effect of her adrenaline wore off and she was reminded of the throbbing in her arm and the cuts on her face and burns on her body. Her hands by this time were calloused from years of fighting, and she felt the rough skin on her hand against her arm as she put some pressure on her muscles.

[][][][][][] Her scars were tingling. The sensation from the blast felt like a sunburn all over her skin, but the scars were the worst. Torn and faded. She felt them under her clothing, pulsing, the mark on her left forearm, the bite on her right shoulder, the cut down her left eye. She winced.

[][][][][][] It felt like she had broken some ribs, but at least she wasn't coughing up blood.

[][][][][][] She pursed her lips and then wiped at a newly-formed cut.

[][][][][][] As she stood staring at the robot, she felt an incredible anger.

[][][][][][] "Where is she?!" she demanded. She could only stand, and watch the sparks from the broken hull as it refused to respond. "ANSWER ME!!"

[][][][][][] She lashed out at the crumpled remains, ripping open the main body in the process, electricity flashing and making smoke like thick fog, making her blink reflexively. She approached the machine again, staring into the center of the body, and she stopped. Her eyes went wide, her jaw dropped, and her entire body trembled in shock and horror.

[][][][][][] Inside, hooked up and linked to the complex circuitry of the metal monster was her sister.

[][][][][][] Her body was thin, emaciated, as if she hadn't eaten properly in years.

[][][][][][] She wasn't moving.

[][][][][][] Buttercup simply stood, a numbness overtaking her, deep in her mind. She heard from a distance, "Get it!" A voice from her memory?

[][][][][][] Did she just move?

[][][][][][] She felt a slight impact on her hand and started. Had she just spaced out? She looked at her sister, strapped to the inside of this twisted robot, and a million thoughts raced through her mind. What was she doing here? She was dead! But... she was still alive, after all this time?

[][][][][][] Wait! If she was inside the robot, that means that she was feeling every hit Buttercup was giving the robot! She stared at her sister's body. Pale. Unmoving.

[][][][][][] She had killed her! No... no!

[][][][][][] She hadn't been dead. She was alive, in the robot. And now, she had killed her! Shock turned to horror and made her mind turn over on itself, and her eyes swelled.

[][][][][][] Buttercup couldn't remember the last time she had cried, but there, on the street, with nobody looking, she felt the tears well up in her eyes and let them go. She fell to her knees, sobbing at the sight of Blossom wrapped in this twisted circuitry...a metal tomb. She wept, salt water streaming down her cheeks, and held her sister's body in her arms. Cradling her softly, she hugged her, and wept. "You're dead!" She sobbed, barely recognizing what she said. "You're...you're dead."

[][][][][][][][][][][][] * * *

[][][][][][] First, she just knew that she knew. Having no control over her mind or body for so long, it was almost an entirely new feeling just to think. Her mind brought forth the barest traces of ideas, which overwhelmed her. They echoed through her mind like glass shattering in an steel room. Next, she felt pain, which at least meant that she was alive, for she knew that death was an absence of pain.

[][][][][][] Still...everything hurt.

[][][][][][] She couldn't close her eyes; she was almost too weak to do it, and they were incredibly dry. The pain pounded in her chest the most, as her increasing heartbeat threatened to burst at any moment.

[][][][][][] And then she knew that it was still watching.

[][][][][][] Her eyes, still open, darted back and forth around her prison. The hovering cylinder, the computer core, like an evil organ, still hummed with electricity... she wanted to destroy it, but was weak, and unable to move from her bonds. It was trying to assess the situation and reroute power to parts that were still functional. This touch-and-go situation was a matter of life and death to her. It wasn't long until it regained control over her. She would rather die than let that happen.

[][][][][][] Then she heard the sound of metal being torn like thin cardboard. The metal scraped, and rang like a cymbal as it was torn open in front of her, with the blinding sparks of electricity against the darkness, quickly replaced by the blinding light of fading sunset. Unable to close her eyes as of yet, she looked up at the figure before her. Her eyes adjusted to the light, and she saw a green dress and the familiar figure of her sister.

[][][][][][] Buttercup? Is it really you? If her eyes weren't so dry, she might have been crying.

[][][][][][] She started to speak but stopped. Was this even real? After all the images in her mind forcing thought from her head, she couldn't be sure that what she was seeing was now.

[][][][][][] Blossom concentrated, her body shaking almost unnoticeably as her eyes twitched back and forth between Buttercup and the computer core. "Get it," she rasped out, her voice almost alien, even to her. "It's... it can still see. Get it." Her voice was ragged and raw, but it was still her voice and she put as much force into it as she could.

[][][][][][] Buttercup didn't respond, but it seemed as though she understood, as if in a hypnotic daze, acting on its own...but from what? Was it that her pleas sounded so desperate that she had to obey them? Or was it instinct? It was possible. Blossom would always be the leader.

[][][][][][] Buttercup, eyes hollow, backhanded the core, shattering its circuits. Blossom felt its power over her die instantly. She relaxed, but still her sister remained in a daze.

[][][][][][] Blossom watched Buttercup just stare at her with empty, soulless eyes for another minute or two, and then she seemed to snap back to reality, as if the last few moments hadn't registered to her.

[][][][][][] Inside the robot, she could hear nothing for a few moments, as Buttercup stared. Then, suddenly, she became aware of someone crying in the distance. She glanced around and didn't see anybody other than the brunette before her.

[][][][][][] Bubbles? Is that Bubbles? Is she here?

[][][][][][] And then Buttercup was beside her, hugging her, a little too strongly. Her sister's crying was not the same as the crying she'd heard in the distance; it was fierce and wet and startlingly real.

[][][][][][] She gasped, almost choked from the intensity of the embrace. She realized how weak she felt and was about to say something, when Buttercup spoke.

[][][][][][] "Oh," she pulled back. "Sorry." She searched for something to say.

[][][][][][] She was hungry, and tired, and thirsty, and sore all over from the fight, and the words wouldn't come out.

[][][][][][] But she had to say something!

[][][][][][] "Are you all right?"

[][][][][][] She kind of regretted asking such a careless question, but Blossom didn't seem bothered by it.

[][][][][][] Blossom hazarded an attempt of her muscles, and the dissatisfaction showed on her face. "I can barely move."

[][][][][][] "I've gotta get you out of here." With a little effort, she severed the wires securing her sister's arms and legs, then gently pulled her frail body out of its prison. She flew up a little too quickly, and Blossom yelped in pain.

[][][][][][] "Sorry," she slowed down. Blossom's wheezing increased in the air, and she seemed to have trouble breathing, so she landed softly. Smiling wanly, with just the slightest bit of sardonic humor, "I guess we're hoofing it. Can you walk?"

[][][][][][] Blossom hesitantly put her feet on the ground. She pushed off with her legs but found herself back in her sister's arms, almost sprawling on the pavement in the attempt. "Guess not," she wheezed.

[][][][][][] "Come on," Buttercup pulled her sister back into her arms.

[][][][][][][][][][][][] * * *

[][][][][][] From a distance, where there was nothing before, she appeared. And saw the sisters in the dust by the broken robot.

[][][][][][] Alive, she thought to herself. They're alive. She's alive? SHE'S ALIVE. How...? Tears of joy welled up in her eyes. And then suddenly, a great pain. A darkness welled up in the base of her spine, an ice that chilled her enthusiasm.

[][][][][][] But they're going to die.

[][][][][][] A voice, not her own. Her sadness came back, mixed with the knowledge that it was true. She knew that was so because as long as she had heard this voice, as long as it was with her, that voice had never once been wrong.

I take it that this is a collaboration piece between you and BeeAre? If so, congrats to him too!

So, Buttercup has freed Blossom from her mechanical prison...but I don't understand what happens on Bubbles' side. Mind explaining?

“How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?” Sherlock Holmes"In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming." Lovecraft"It's incredible how the human mind can devise such simple explanations to the things it doesn't understand, just to avoid looking at the terrible bigger picture that is the truth. Unfortunately, that won't help them when it comes knocking at the door." Alyssa Gillespine

It will be. Whenever we post the next chapter, that is. Patience, young Pada--fuck, I forgot that I hate Star Wars.

BR posted the second chapter, and will probably be posting the third early next week, because I'm going to be going on a short Underway (for those who don't know, I'm in the Navy--Submarine force) and won't have any Internet access, though I will have Email.

So... yeah. We'll get to it.

PS: That Star Wars thing was just a joke. I don't need ANOTHER brick through my window, thank you very much.

RuffDraft wrote:BR posted the second chapter, and will probably be posting the third early next week, because I'm going to be going on a short Underway (for those who don't know, I'm in the Navy--Submarine force) and won't have any Internet access, though I will have Email.

Ah. That explains everything.

RuffDraft wrote:PS: That Star Wars thing was just a joke. I don't need ANOTHER brick through my window, thank you very much.

...What?

Anyway, I don't really mind if you make jokes on Star Wars or the like. Feel free to use them, if you want.

“How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?” Sherlock Holmes"In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming." Lovecraft"It's incredible how the human mind can devise such simple explanations to the things it doesn't understand, just to avoid looking at the terrible bigger picture that is the truth. Unfortunately, that won't help them when it comes knocking at the door." Alyssa Gillespine

RuffDraft wrote:The part above where I wrote "Patience, young Pada--fuck I forgot that I hate Star Wars."

Padawan? Like, Jedi-in-training. For some reason. I don't know.

/facepalms

As Q.U. said, my what was connected to the window-thing.

“How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?” Sherlock Holmes"In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming." Lovecraft"It's incredible how the human mind can devise such simple explanations to the things it doesn't understand, just to avoid looking at the terrible bigger picture that is the truth. Unfortunately, that won't help them when it comes knocking at the door." Alyssa Gillespine

Me too! Unfortunately, the guy who wrote it at the moment is not around to update. Here's why:

RuffDraft wrote:BR posted the second chapter, and will probably be posting the third early next week, because I'm going to be going on a short Underway (for those who don't know, I'm in the Navy--Submarine force) and won't have any Internet access, though I will have Email.

Although, if BeeAre has part of the story, couldn't he post something, like, now?

“How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?” Sherlock Holmes"In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming." Lovecraft"It's incredible how the human mind can devise such simple explanations to the things it doesn't understand, just to avoid looking at the terrible bigger picture that is the truth. Unfortunately, that won't help them when it comes knocking at the door." Alyssa Gillespine

[][][][][][] Blossom looked around the town as Buttercup carried her through it. Buttercup seemed to be taking the most direct route to wherever she was taking her. She went through alleyways and through the streets looking in all directions, as if paranoid of her surroundings.

[][][][][][] The entire town was a mess. No one was here, and most of the buildings were destroyed, with not even the clean-up crews there to take away the rubble. The town had really gone to Hell since she had been gone.

[][][][][][] She heard whispering, and looked at Buttercup and couldn't tell if she had said anything or not, but she was looking around like she was expecting to be attacked by any one of their many enemies at any time.

[][][][][][] It was getting louder.

[][][][][][] She managed to whisper, "Do you hear that?"

[][][][][][][][][][][][][] * * *

[][][][][][] She couldn't relax. Ever since she had started walking with Blossom in her arms, Buttercup had begun to hear some kind of whispering and thought that maybe Blossom was talking to herself, but she kept hearing all these different, unhappy voices as she walked through town. Maybe some of the buildings around her contained survivors. She would have to come back later.

[][][][][][] She knew there would still be people in the hospital, people who'd be more-than-willing to help a less-than-powerful Powerpuff Girl in distress. Buttercup's own injuries were already healing, and she knew that anything the doctors could do for her would just be dwarfed by her body's own super-powered restoration. They might have a painkiller she could take, though.

[][][][][][] The whispering was really starting to annoy her. She was about to tell Blossom to stop talking to herself, even if it would seem heartless.

[][][][][][] "Do you hear that?" Her sister rasped.

[][][][][][] Buttercup stopped abruptly and stared at her in surprise.

[][][][][][] But then she noticed Blossom looking down the alley, and saw her eyes widen in surprise. She looked and saw nothing there except the faintest trace of somebody's outline. Someone...tall.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][] * * *

[][][][][][] Blossom stared down the alley, her eyes wide, and watched as the Professor's image slowly came towards them. His lips moved, but she could only hear traces of words coming from them.

[][][][][][] She stared up at her sister, but didn't have time to say anything, because the very next moment, they both heard an earsplitting shriek, like someone sobbing all around them, and recognized Bubbles' painful weeping, echoing, as if it were bouncing off of every object around them, even the ground.

[][][][][][] "WHO NEEDS YA?!" a voice boomed.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][] * * *

[][][][][][] Buttercup felt the tears welling up in her eyes. That was her own voice just now.

[][][][][][] Something terrible was happening. Frantic, she ran with Blossom in her arms, confused, afraid, terrified.

[][][][][][] She didn't realize that Blossom was in no condition for this until he heard her gasp out.

[][][][][][] "S-slow down..."

[][][][][][] She slowed to a walk, and then stopped altogether, still very much in a daze.

[][][][][][] Now she could see the images. Images of those they knew, those who had been close friends before they had gone away. Allies they had fought alongside for years. Enemies that they had beat down dozens of times in the eternal name of justice.

[][][][][][] And she saw Bubbles. Her image faded in and out in the same spot, as if the light itself were bending around her; a tangible object, being absorbed into reality. By now, the voices had reached a fervor.

[][][][][][] "Bubbles?" she muttered to herself. The image seemed to flicker before her.

[][][][][][] "NO! BUBBLES!! DON'T GO!" She started in that direction, then realized she was still holding Blossom. She seemed torn in two, wanting to run towards the sister that she had really been searching for all this time, and wanting to hold on to the one she had, lest she be taken from her again.

[][][][][][] She realized that she was trembling and turned her gaze to Blossom.

[][][][][][] "What should I do?" she demanded, even as her voice cracked painfully.

[][][][][][] Blossom looked up at her, confusion mixed with painful grief in her eyes.

[][][][][][] She managed to rasp out, "Why are you asking me?" She had been out of their lives for... longer than she even knew. Wasn't Buttercup used to making her own decisions by now?

[][][][][][] Buttercup stared at Blossom desperately. "YOU'RE THE LEADER!" she shouted. She could barely hear her own voice over the frenzy of voices around her. "I WAS LOOKING FOR BUBBLES, NOT YOU!"

[][][][][][] "Calm down, stop shouting," Blossom's throat cracked, trying to work some feeling into her voice.

[][][][][][] "BLOSSOM! I CAN BARELY HEAR YOU OVER THIS—" the only word for it that she found was "—SCREAMING!"

[][][][][][] She could do nothing but look around frantically at all the images around her, scenes from someone's mind being thrown out into the air like so much debris in a hurricane.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][] * * *

[][][][][][] Blossom did hear the screaming, but to her, it was as if many people were screaming at a whisper. She saw faces and images, all of which she recognized immediately. And she saw Bubbles, but it didn't look like her.

[][][][][][] Her eyes were dark. Her hair was still in its pigtails, but it was dirty, greasy, and unkempt. She was wearing an old nightgown that was ripped, faded and stained with...blood? There was another black stain, coming around the side to the front. And she...

[][][][][][] Oh, god. Who could've...

[][][][][][] Bubbles moved forward.

[][][][][][] There were metal arms coming out of her back.

[][][][][][] Four jointed, tube-like arms rose out like a set of tentacles. They ended in blunt, rounded edges that traced along the dirt as they moved.

[][][][][][] Bubbles had one hand pointing at them, her eyes stricken with gloom.

[][][][][][] The images around her flashed and cascaded against one another, struggling for a focus, and yet spilling out, like water through a ruptured embankment.

[][][][][][] Her robotic arms were hovering around her menacingly, as if waiting to get close enough to strike. And if they did, Blossom knew neither of them would stand a chance right now.

[][][][][][] Buttercup was by now shaking so hard that she could no longer hold on to Blossom, and she slipped from her arms as if she had been made of slick ice.

[][][][][][] Blossom managed to ease herself to the ground without much pain, but she couldn't move more than was necessary to keep herself from falling down completely. Her muscles had atrophied so badly that they were barely more than sinew, and her body was so thin that any solid attack might kill her.

[][][][][][] If Buttercup could not stop it, they were as good as dead.

[][][][][][] Blossom saw bright drops welling in Bubbles' eyes.

[][][][][][] She turned to Buttercup, but she was still whipping her head around at every image that she saw and sound that she heard around her, her face a panic of emotions. She was completely overwhelmed.

[][][][][][] The situation was dire. She mustered up her strength and touched Buttercup's leg.

[][][][][][] The reaction was instantaneous.

[][][][][][] Buttercup gasped and jumped a few inches away from Blossom's touch, and simply stared at her, the images and sounds briefly forgotten.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][] * * *

[][][][][][] Bubbles stared down at her sisters. Buttercup was watching all the images around her in a frenzy, a look of intense fear on her face. Blossom was focusing on Bubbles, concern mixed with fear mixed with understanding.

[][][][][][] It's okay, the voice said in mock sympathy. It will all be over quickly. They have to die.

[][][][][][] She didn't understand why but she knew that it was true. They had to die.

[][][][][][] She got closer, slowly, and started to lift one of her arms, pointing it in the direction of the closer target: Buttercup.

[][][][][][] Blossom, the voice commanded. Kill her first.

[][][][][][] She obeyed, shifting her attention to Blossom, and pointed directly at her.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][] * * *

[][][][][][] Buttercup's attention was suddenly drawn to Bubbles. She had her arm extended and it was pointing at Blossom, along with—

[][][][][][] What were those things coming from her back?! Giant metal tentacles?

[][][][][][] What's the deal with all these giant metal tentacles?!

[][][][][][] She saw Bubbles crying silently.

[][][][][][] There was a painful, determined look on her face.

[][][][][][] Bubbles moved forward, walking on the robotic limbs, her own legs hanging, limp, aimlessly.

[][][][][][] Buttercup blanched.

[][][][][][] It was a horrible sight.

[][][][][][] "Bubbles... what are you doing?"

[][][][][][] Bubbles' features went from blank to aware in an instant, and everything stopped. The screaming and flashes of memories faded. Everything was silent. The robotic arms froze in midair. Bubbles' gaze went from Buttercup to Blossom, then to the ground.

[][][][][][] All at once, Bubbles' robotic arms went limp, her body drifting to the pavement as she brought her hands up to her face. Her eyes were damp and she began to cry, bawling like a newborn.

[][][][][][] "I'm sorry!" she cried. "I'm so sorry!" She sobbed agonizingly into her hands and fell to her knees. The robot appendages behind her were twitching, writhing against the ground, contorting almost randomly.

[][][][][][] The other two could only watch her crying as she apologized over and over again.

[][][][][][] "Bubbles," Blossom called to her in the loudest voice she could manage, which was still barely above a whisper, "You haven't done anything wrong. What are you sorry fo—"

[][][][][][] "NOOOO!!" Bubbles shrieked with such ferocity that Blossom was silenced. Her emotion began to fade away, from such intense sadness into almost nothing. Her face, a moment ago so distraught was empty. Her arms went limp and fell to her sides.

[][][][][][] And then the images exploded around them once more.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][] * * *

[][][][][][] It flashed dangerously. KILL THEM!!

[][][][][][] "NOOOO!!" She screamed.

[][][][][][] YES! NOW! KILL THEM NOW!!

[][][][][][] Her hands pressed harder against her temples; her body began to tense. The computer felt a force not unlike the one it used on her being fed back to it. It was dangerous to push further, and it made one thing very clear: She would no longer kill them.

[][][][][][] A minor setback.

[][][][][][] It was time to change tactics.

[][][][][][] Calculations were run, scenarios were compiled, and it charted a new path through her brain. She was taken over by this new effect very suddenly, and her arms limp as this new program ordered her to do something she could no longer resist.

[][][][][][] This time, they were the images. Blossom saw herself, along with her sisters, fighting to contain an orange liquid as it spilled into the streets.

[][][][][][] Suddenly, she saw herself clamped down on a table, beside which someone was injecting her with something.

[][][][][][] "Antidote X," said a voice, echoing through their minds.

[][][][][][] On the table, Blossom's body became Buttercup's body.

[][][][][][] Buttercup's body became Blossom's body.

[][][][][][] The two flickered back and forth.

[][][][][][] Blossom and Buttercup then saw each other hovering above the scene below them as if they were ghosts. Blossom clearly saw that Buttercup's mind was unable to cope with what she was seeing.

[][][][][][] "What's going on?!" she cried.

[][][][][][] The lights flickered on, and they were suddenly in their kitchen. There was no operating table; instead there was their breakfast table. The figure from before became the Professor, unresponsive, hunched over the table, and in the background, Buttercup was breaking, pounding, destroying anything she could get her hands on, Bubbles crying behind her. Suddenly Buttercup stopped, and looked around.

[][][][][][] Buttercup looked up slowly. When she blinked her eyes, one of them became the same eye Blossom saw in herself each time she looked in the mirror. It didn't look any different from her own, but seeing her eye against Buttercup's was... unsettling.

[][][][][][] Each time the images changed, it was something different. Bubbles' sad memories were swirling around them, creating a vortex that lifted them off the ground, as well as several objects from the street around them. Trash cans, scraps of paper, pebbles... everything that wasn't attached to something else was sucked into the myriad.

[][][][][][] They were fighting monster after monster. She was flying alone, Monster Island looming in the distance ahead of her. A giant, severed crab claw floated towards Townsville bay and washed ashore. She was crying. She looked afraid for her life. She witnessed her own funeral from afar.

[][][][][][] It was enough to drive them mad.

[][][][][][][][][][][][] * * *

[][][][][][] And suddenly, all the voices and images stopped.

[][][][][][] At first she thought this was another flashback, but after a moment, Buttercup began to feel stiff and shifted her posture, and realized instantly that she was back in her own room.

[][][][][][] She became aware of her surroundings. Nothing was as it had been. Her bed looked almost new, the house no longer smelled of stale, musty air, and she could hear the cars passing by her house outside. It felt foreign... but at the same time, peaceful, for the first time in... a long time.

[][][][][][] After a moment, the Professor passed by her room. He stopped and leaned back in. "Buttercup? If you don't hurry and eat your breakfast, you'll be late for school."

[][][][][][] She could do nothing but stare at him. He stared back at her, and it seemed like everything was okay again... he didn't look at her with fear; he didn't look at her with anger; there was nothing but joy and pride written across his face.

[][][][][][] Buttercup blinked; didn't even recognize her own voice when she spoke. "I'll be right down."

[][][][][][] The Professor smiled and continued down the hall.

[][][][][][] She stared at her hands and felt her face and body in turn. There were no cuts from the fight; no war-worn callouses; no blemishes; no scars.

[][][][][][] No scars.

[][][][][][] She was... home. As if everything had been a waking nightmare, and she had just woken up.

[][][][][][] She smiled, and tears trickled down her cheeks.

[][][][][][] And then quickly, she wiped them away. Never show weakness.

[][][][][][] Buttercup hovered down to breakfast and stared at the plate of bacon and eggs, freshly crisped and scrambled, respectively. She grabbed the fork and stuffed some of the eggs into her mouth, realizing for the first time how hungry she was.

[][][][][][] And it was good.

[][][][][][] She couldn't remember her food being this good. It felt like forever that she had a good meal, cooked by the Professor.

[][][][][][] She noticed that the other girls were staring at her. She had her hands clasped over her cheeks and realized that she had been making odd, joyful noises while eating.

[][][][][][] "Are you okay, Buttercup?" Bubbles asked, worried.

[][][][][][] "It's not that good," Blossom chuckled as she took another bite.

[][][][][][] She no longer cared, however. If this was a dream, she didn't want to wake up, and she didn't want anyone to think that she had just been through the longest nightmare ever.

[][][][][][] No matter how real it had seemed.

[][][][][][][][][][][][] * * *

[][][][][][] Everything was darkness, and Blossom realized that she had her eyes closed. When she opened them, she was sitting on her bed, in her room.

[][][][][][] Her room? How? Wasn't she just...?

[][][][][][] She pinched herself and felt real pain. If it wasn't a dream, then...

[][][][][][] Buttercup and Bubbles were on either side of her, just waking up themselves. Looking around, she realized how familiar the room looked, and yet the feeling of nostalgia was unnatural.

[][][][][][] "Aahh..." Blossom stretched, and realized that she didn't feel anything other than the initial pains of coming out of a deep, relaxed sleep.

[][][][][][] It didn't make any sense. She should have been powerless and on the verge of exhaustion, but she felt... alive. Like the Powerpuff she used to be.

[][][][][][] "Mornin', Blossom," she heard on her left, and glanced over at Bubbles. She looked... normal. As normal as a Powerpuff Girl could. No metallic arms. No gloom. She had bed-head, but...

[][][][][][] Everything was fine.

[][][][][][] It didn't make any sense.

[][][][][][] "Good morning, girls!" A cheerful Professor called from the doorway.

[][][][][][] She glanced over, and was overcome with joy at seeing him.

[][][][][][] For the first time in a long time.

[][][][][][] "PROFESSOR!" She shrieked and dove at him, embracing him strongly, and sobbing.

[][][][][][] "Whoa!" He cried out as they fell to the floor.

[][][][][][] "Professor! Professor, I... and we... and Buttercup, and Bubbles... and Mojo... And we were—"

[][][][][][] "All right, all right, Blossom, calm down!" The Professor said, sitting up with her still in his arms. "It looks like you've just had a bad dream. Go and get a glass of water and come down to breakfast. We're having my world-famous flapjacks today."

[][][][][][] She remembered his flapjacks. They were very good. He had an interesting formula or recipe to making them. She remembered how he had taught her and how she had gone over the memory many times during the experiments to stay sane and keep hold of reality.

[][][][][][] But this was reality, wasn't it? She had feeling, and right now, the duality was trying to reconcile itself with what she was seeing, hearing, touching, smelling...

[][][][][][] Everything that she was feeling right now was so peaceful.

[][][][][][] And it didn't make any sense.

[][][][][][] She put her hand up to her eye. She could feel the bone surrounding it, but the moment she touched the lens, she recoiled. Not because it hurt...it didn't; that was the problem.

[][][][][][] Her eye was not her own.

[][][][][][] She made something up to mask her odd behavior. "Ow!" She hissed, and clenched her eye shut.

[][][][][][] "Blossom?" Bubbles looked at her concerned. "Did you just poke your eye?"

[][][][][][] "Yeah," she said carefully, "I must not be fully awake. I'm going to the bathroom." Without waiting for her sisters, she flew over to the bathroom and looked strongly into the mirror. She saw her reflection, and nothing more. She was wearing her usual pink nightgown, and both her eyes looked normal. She reached up and pressed against her right eye again.

[][][][][][] It just didn't feel right. It felt... wrong.

[][][][][][] She looked at her hair for the first time. It was a mess. She forgot about her eye for a moment and started fixing her hair.

[][][][][][] She made it perfect. Like this morning. Her sisters joined her making their way down to breakfast, backpacks waiting for them by the door.

[][][][][][] "Heeeeere's breakfast!" The Professor cried out as he threw his arms out to greet his girls. He was wearing his "Hail To The Chef" apron, one that Blossom had vividly remembered, and one that she really liked, if only because she liked puns.

[][][][][][] But even though everything up until this moment was perfect...

[][][][][][] It still didn't make any sense.

[][][][][][] Why was she "remembering" things when she should be "experiencing" them?

[][][][][][] She looked at the breakfast table.

[][][][][][] "Wow, Professor! These look great!" she said, her voice raising an octave in surprise. The table had a giant platter in the center with an extra-large stack of extra-large flapjacks piled high. Butter melted off the sides and ran down, making the bottom flapjacks soggy, but she knew that would just add to the flavor, because for these flapjacks, you used unsalted, sweetened butter.

[][][][][][] She cut a piece off with her fork and put it in her mouth.

[][][][][][] It was good. It was so unbelievably good that she found herself rubbing her cheeks. She ate as though she hadn't had anything so good to eat in years and ate her entire stack in a matter of minutes.

[][][][][][] After such an amazing breakfast, Blossom and her sisters swung their backpacks over their shoulders and headed out for the bus to school. They had gotten into this habit after the bus had nearly gone off the road once. How long ago had that been? She didn't remember.

[][][][][][] On the bus, she couldn't help thinking about this odd whirring sound she'd been hearing since she woke up. It seemed almost too familiar. She glanced around the bus and thought she heard the noise again.

[][][][][][] She had the distinct feeling she was missing something important. She ran over the thoughts in her head again. She had woken up, tackled the Professor, gotten a drink of water, and went down to breakfast...oh, and she poked herself in the eye, too.

[][][][][][] Wait. Her eye?

[][][][][][] She reached up and poked her left eye through the eyelid. It felt... normal. Like a normal eye would. She did the same with her right eye... and that was when she noticed the difference.

[][][][][][] Her right eye felt hard, like it was plastic, or some kind of hard rubber. But she was on the bus. She couldn't make a scene.

[][][][][][] Why had she forgotten? That's something that you don't notice every day. Her eye had taken a backseat to breakfast. What was happening?

[][][][][][] "Blossom, I made a drawing of Suzie!"

[][][][][][] Blossom looked over at Bubbles, and saw she was smiling brightly and had a picture—albeit a badly drawn one—of their classmate Suzie. Brown hair, brown eyes, orange sweatshirt and blue pants...and she was giving Blossom an apple from her lunch. Blossom was giving her a peach. It was a trade of their favorite fruits.

[][][][][][] Nostalgia overwhelmed her and she once again forgot about her problems.

[][][][][][] "I remember that, Bubbles. That was the day I met Suzie, wasn't it?"

[][][][][][] "Uh-huh!" Bubbles smiled. "She told you she got an apple in her lunch and you told her you got a peach in yours, and she said, 'Hey, I really like peaches! You want to trade me for my apple?' and you said—"

[][][][][][] As she stepped off the bus, she still didn't realize what the matter with her memory was.

[][][][][][] Because it didn't want her to know.

[][][][][][][][][][][][] * * *

[][][][][][] She could see them in their dreams. The ones she made. They were happy, and it made her feel happy, too, if only slightly; the other emotions still reigned over her mind. She was on the verge of tears, torn between all of her feelings at once. She didn't know what she needed to do.

[][][][][][] The weight on her spine came back. She breathed faintly, a small gasp as it pushed the words into her head. She was lost, and the voice had come again.

[][][][][][] Make them happy, Bubbles. Give them their perfect lives. Make them love the world that isn't real.

[][][][][][] "The world that isn't real?"

[][][][][][] Yes, it intoned slowly and meaningfully. Make them realize the world we live in is full of hate. Make them realize that yours is full of love. They will love you for it in the end, and you will be truly happy. You will all be together forever.

[][][][][][] "Happy." The word brought a tear to her eye. "Together."

[][][][][][] She concentrated. She had a new mission to accomplish.

[][][][][][] Show them, Bubbles.

[][][][][][] She concentrated again.

[][][][][][] Make them love you, Bubbles. Love them so that they love you..

[][][][][][] She concentrated harder. By now the aura of psychic energy manifesting around her had coalesced into a visible blue glow, and was getting brighter every second.

That cult would never die till the stars came right again, and the secret priests would take great Cthulhu from His tomb to revive His subjects and resume His rule of earth. The time would be easy to know, for then mankind would have become as the Great Old Ones; free and wild and beyond good and evil, with laws and morals thrown aside and all men shouting and killing and revelling in joy.